In my iRiver IFP-899 (the player I'm most likely to use it with), I couldn't quite plug it in all the way, but it did plug in fully to my CD player (which doesn't have a recessed headphone jack like the iRiver does).
It only took me a couple minutes to realize that the Macally Podwave is NOT what I'm looking for in a portable speaker. My main gripe is that it is WAY TOO QUIET!! (like on the order of 24-36dB) Sure, the sound quality (for the size of the drivers) was acceptable to my ear, although I would have liked a little more low bass extension. I could hear the 16 Hz notes on the piano recording that I tested it with, but would have liked a little better sound. Treble was acceptable to me - I don't need it to go super high - 10-12kHz response would be perfectly acceptable. I didn't listen much for stereo separation accuracy, cause I didn't really expect all that much from something like that, I was in a noisy environment (similar to where I'd normally listen to it), my source didn't have much stereo separation, and I was so disgusted with the lack of output volume on this that I didn't really bother testing anything else on it, and 5 minutes after I bought it I returned it.
So, does anyone have suggestions for a portable speaker that, simultaneously with the iRiver mentioned above, will fit in a pants pocket? (the Podwave would have fit with room to spare if it weren't for the way it connects.
I wouldn't mind if it's somewhat bigger than the iRiver, but I still want it (while it's connected to the player) to be able to fit in my pocket. The pic gives you a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for. (the Podwave is sketched on the bottom, minus the plug, in the approximate position/orientation it goes when plugged into the iRiver. On the top is basically the form factor I'm looking for. (whether the speakers are on the front or on the sides, aesthetically, doesn't matter all that much. I mainly want what sounds similar (preferably better) and is (most importantly) at least 24-36dB louder (without overdriving.)) (note that the plug on the speaker pictured on the top isn't plugged in all the way.) Also, the bass/mid/treble are optional, but would be nice if they ranged from -24 to +24dB, and the bass affected frequencies low enough for you to hear the individual vibrations of the tones (not higher) or the lowest octave of a piano and lower, the mid affected notes in the middle 4 octaves of a piano, and the treble affected the top octave of the piano and higher.
The price of the Podwave was right, but the volume output was not.
So what's a good alternative? The most important things are price (the Podwave was the right price), form factor (see the picture of the top one, although the way the plug is might need to be changed for some applications), and output volume (needs to be AT LEAST 24-36dB louder than the podwave. Also nice would be an on-speaker volume control. (the 3-band equalizer would be a nice bonus if it worked properly, but I wouldn't miss it if it didn't have one.)